Maaneh Lashon - Part 1

Righteous ones, sing joyous praises to God; it is fitting for the upright to offer praise.

Extol God with a harp; sing to Him with a ten-stringed lyre.

Sing a new song to Him; skillfully play sounds of jubilation.

For the word of God is just; all His deeds are done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice; the kindness of God fills the earth.

The heavens were made by the word of God, and by the breath of His mouth, all their hosts.

He collects the waters of the sea like a mound; He stows away the depths in vaults.

Let all the earth fear God; let all the inhabitants of the world quaver before Him.

For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it endured.

God has nullified the counsel of nations; He has thwarted the schemes of peoples.

The counsel of God stands forever; the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.

Happy is the people whose God is the Lord, the nation He chose as a heritage for Himself.

God looks down from heaven; He beholds all humanity.

From His dwelling-place, He surveys all the inhabitants of the earth.

It is He who fashions the hearts of them all, who perceives all their actions.

A king is not saved through a large army; a mighty man is not rescued by means of great strength.

A horse is a false guarantee for victory; with all its great power, it offers no escape.

Behold, the eye of God is directed toward those who fear Him, toward those who hope for His kindness.

To save their soul from death and to sustain them during famine,

Our soul yearns for God; He is our help and our shield.

In Him shall our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy Name.

May Your kindness, God, be upon us, as we have placed our hope in You.1

Let the soul of every living being bless Your name, God our Lord, and the spirit of all flesh continuously glorify and exalt Your remembrance, our King. From the highest world to the lowest, You are the Almighty; apart from You we have no King, Redeemer and Deliverer Who liberates, saves, sustains, answers, and is merciful in every time of distress and tribulation; we have no King but You.

[You are] the God of the first and of the last [generations], God of all created beings, Master of all history, Who is extolled with manifold praises, who directs His world with kindness and His created beings with mercy.

Behold, God neither slumbers nor sleeps.2 He wakes those who sleep, and rouses those who slumber; He enables the mute to speak, frees the bound, supports those who fall, and straightens those who are bowed. To You alone, we offer thanks. Even if our mouths were filled with song as the sea [is filled with water], our tongues with melody as the rumble of its waves, and our lips with praise as the breadth of the firmament; and our eyes were luminous like the sun and the moon, our hands spread out as the [wings of the] eagles of the sky, and our feet as light as the deer, we would still be incapable of [adequately] thanking You, God our Lord and Lord of our ancestors, and blessing Your name

for even one of the many thousands and myriads of favors, miracles and wonders which You have performed for us and for our ancestors before us.

God our Lord, You redeemed us from Egypt, liberated us from the house of bondage, sustained us in famine and nourished us in plenty, rescued us from the sword and saved us from the plague, and preserved us from severe and lasting maladies. Until now Your mercies have helped us, and Your kindnesses have not forsaken us; may You, God our Lord, never utterly abandon us.

Therefore, the limbs which You have structured within us, the spirit and soul which You have breathed into our nostrils, and the tongue which You have placed in our mouths, these will all thank, bless, laud and glorify, exalt and adore, sanctify and proclaim the sovereignty of Your name, our King.

For every mouth shall offer thanks to You; every tongue shall swear [allegiance] to You; every eye shall look to You; and every knee shall bend to You; and all who stand upright shall prostrate themselves before You; all hearts shall be in awe of You; and every inner organ shall sing to Your name, as it is written,3 “My entire being shall declare: God, who is like You, Who saves the poor from one stronger than he, the poor and the indigent from one who would rob him!” Who can be likened to You? Who can be equated with You? Who can be compared to You, the great, mighty and awesome God, exalted God, Creator of heaven and earth? We will praise, laud, and glorify You and bless Your holy name, as it is said,4 “[A Psalm] by David: Bless G‑d, O my soul, and my entire being His holy name.”

You are the Almighty by virtue of the strength of Your power; the Great by virtue of the glory of Your name; the

Powerful for eternity, and the Awesome by virtue of Your awe-inspiring deeds; the King Who sits upon a lofty and exalted throne.

He Who dwells for eternity, lofty and holy is His name. And it is written:5 “Righteous ones, sing joyous praises to God; it is fitting for the upright to offer praise.” By the mouths of the upright You are exalted; by the lips of the righteous You are blessed; by the tongues of the pious You are sanctified; and by the innermost parts of the holy ones You are praised.

And in the assemblies of the myriads of Your people, the House of Israel, with song shall Your name, our King, be glorified, in every generation. For that is the duty of all created beings, God our Lord and God of our ancestors, to thankfully acknowledge, to laud, to praise, to glorify, to exalt, to extol, to bless, to magnify and to acclaim You, even more than all the words of song and praise of David, the son of Yishai, Your servant and anointed one.

A prayer by Moshe, the man of God. My God, You have been a shelter for us in every generation.

Before the mountains were brought into being, before You created the earth and the world, for ever and ever You are the Almighty.

You bring man low until the crushing point, and You say, “Return, children of man.”

For a thousand years are in Your eyes like yesterday that has passed, like a watch of the night.

The flow [of their life] is as a mere slumber; in the morning, they are like grass that sprouts anew.

In the morning, it thrives and sprouts anew; in the evening, it withers and dries up.

For we are consumed by Your anger, and confounded by Your wrath.

You have set our sins before You, our hidden deeds before the radiance of Your countenance.

For all our days have passed by in Your wrath; we cause our years to pass like a fleeting sound.

The years of our life number seventy, or, in great vigor, eighty; their force is but travail and futility, passing quickly and flying away.

Who can know the intensity of Your anger? Just as one’s fear of You [is unbounded], so too [is] Your wrath.

Maaneh Lashon is universal in acceptance and appeal. The present edition follows the custom established by the second Rebbe of Lubavitch, Rabbi DovBer, to be recited at the gravesite of his father, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, founder of Chabad-Lubavitch.

Kehot Publication Society and Merkos Publications, the publishing divisions of the Lubavitch movement, have brought Torah education to nearly every Jewish community in the world, and are the world's largest publisher of Jewish literature.